Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Nicholls Town Burkina Faso
Thursday, September 9, 1999 19:15 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
On September 9, 1999, about 1915 eastern daylight time, a Piper PA-31-310, N6579L, registered to Webs Palnes, Inc., operating as a 14 CFR Part 91 personal flight, crashed about 50 yards east of San Andros Airport, Andros Island, Bahamas, following an inflight explosion and cockpit fire. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and a VFR flight plan was filed. The airplane was destroyed by ground fire and the commercially-rated pilot and six passengers were not injured. The flight originated from Nassau, New Providence, about 1910.
According to the pilot, at about 15 miles from his destination, San Andros, he heard a loud explosion from under the floor, and then experienced fire in the cockpit. Attempts at extinguishing the fire were negative and he began to lose engine power. He tried to make the runway at San Andros, but impacted mangrove growth east of the airport, instead. He stated he thought the problem may have been a short circuit in electrical wiring under the airplane's floorboards.
The investigation is under the jurisdiction of the Department of Civil Aviation, Nassau, Bahamas. This report is filed for informational purposes only and contains that information released by the Bahamian authorities. For additional information contact:
Director of Civil Aviation, Bahamas P. O. Box N-975 Nassau, N. P. Bahamas Phone: (242) 377-7117
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/9/1999 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1915 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | NICHOLLS TOWN |
| Event State | -- |
| Event Country | BURKINA FASO |
| Zipcode of the event site | |
| Event Date Year | 1999 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Unknown |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 2000 |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | MYN |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 0 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | |
| Lighting Conditions | Not Reported |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 2000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 31 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 27 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 50 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 7 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 0 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 11 1999 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1157 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 9:14AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N6579L |
| NTSB Number | MIA99WA262 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Unknown |
| Aircraft Explosion | Unknown |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-31-310 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PA-31-310 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | Unknown |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | -- |
| Number of Engines | -- |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Unknown |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | |
| Aircraft Owner City | |
| Aircraft Owner State | |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | -- |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 1147 BELLTOWN RD. |
| Operator City | TELLICO PLAINS |
| Operator State | TN |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 37385 |
| Operator Code | |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Unknown |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | -- |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | -- |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | -- |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | Unknown |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | MYNN |
| Departure City | NASSAU |
| Departure State | OF |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 0 |
| Departure Time Zone | |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | MYAN |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | OF |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 3 2001 9:58AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 0 |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |